- Strikeforce originally stated that two-minute rounds would be used during their inaugural middleweight tournament next month but the California State Athletic Commission has stepped in and changed the bout duration to five full minutes.

- Some other numbers from UFC 79…

Official attendance - 16,054
Total live gate - $2,519,850

- Sean Salmon has revealed through MMA Junkie that he will be fighting at Strikeforce next month against an opponent yet to be determined and at the next HDNet Fights event on December 15th against Jason “Mayhem” Miller:

Now, onto upcoming fights (or what I am permitted to say, anyway): I am “for sure” fighting on the Strikeforce card on Nov. 16. However, Eugene Jackson (my original opponent) is injured and can’t fight. I know Cung Le’s opponent has fallen through, and I would like nothing more than to fight him. Here we go again:

Either way, I have been assured that I am on this card, but I’m most likely an “alternate bout” to the tournament. I can’t complain about that, as I would be honored to fight anyone in that four-man field.

Next up, I have been given permission to announce that I will be fighting Jason “Mayhem” Miller on the Dec. 15 HDNet Fights card.

When contacted by Five Ounces of Pain, Murphy indicated that no one with EliteXC has contacted him about the possibility of fighting Thompson. He went on to add that he’s currently suffering from a serious shoulder injury and does not believe he’d be able to take the match even if it is offered.

Murphy went on to indicate that a match with Thompson is one he’d welcome in the future and that he hopes it’s a bout available to him once he’s healthy again.

- Herb Dean recently sat down for an interview with The Winnipeg Sun and discussed his controversial decision to stop the Frank Mir-Tim Sylvia heavyweight title bout at UFC 48 after Sylvia suffered a broken arm:

That experience was never more evident back in 2004, when Dean was the referee in UFC 48. In the heavyweight championship fight between Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir, Sylvia broke his arm in the first round. Dean, understanding the headstrong mentality of some of the fighters, saw this and jumped in right away, stopping the fight. He knew if he didn’t, Sylvia would have kept going and possibly suffered more damage.

“He was upset, the crowd was upset,” Dean remembers, “but it turns out they caught in on video, they had a good angle of it, so I was vindicated. For a minute I was wondering where I was going to hide. I was looking for a good hiding spot or a large police officer.

“It’s happened more than once, but that was my defining match as a referee.”

A lot of news to report so I’ve decided to throw up a Sunday edition of CKA…

News and Notes

- Pancrase has been forced to cancel it’s championship main event for this morning’s 2007 Rising Tour show after former heavyweight King of Pancrase Kestutis “Tiger” Arbocius pulled a no-show. His scheduled opponent, current Heavyweight King of Pancrase Assuerio Silva, has been removed from the card and will defend his title at a later date.

Officials from Sherdog have stated that varying reports reveal that no one really knows where Arbocius is right now:

Initial reports from Japanese media, which attributed information to Arbocius’ management, suggested that the 32-year-old Lithuanian* may have had difficulty with local police.

A Pancrase official disputed that report, telling Sherdog.com via e-mail, “Nobody knows where he is, even his manager. Pancrase is trying to keep in touch with him.”

Yuki Kondo’s bout against Yuji Sakuragi will now serve as the main event for the show.

- Shooto has announced five more bouts for it’s Back to our Roots 6 card, set for November 8th at Yoyogi National Stadium Second Gymnasium in Tokyo:

“I want to go out there and fight the best. I’m really looking at UFC over Elite because that is where a lot of top guys are. In the next few weeks I’ll probably make my decision on where I’m going to be signing. I’m sure we’re going to talk to them in the next week before we sign anything with Elite. I’m ready to get in there with the top guys. With the Rumble on the Rock tournament and EliteXC and my last four or five fights have been top come and have been fast, easy fights. I think it definitely shows I belong there.”

- The Edmonton Sun is reporting that Hardcore Championship Fighting is currently in contract talks with Vitor Belfort, Ricardo Arona, and John Alessio:

“We are the only Canadian promotion that is bringing in huge international names,” says Crawford. “We remain committed to promoting local talent, but I believe Canadians are educated in the sport and want to see the world’s best.”

Seth has been involved in the MMA scene for awhile and decided to join ATT to help further his career while preparing and train for his fights. When not preparing for his fights at the Main academy in Coconut Creek, FL. Seth will continue teaching at ATT Orlando along with Paul Rodriguez.

Look for Seth to be back in action Oct. 27th at Knight Fights in Orlando, Florida.

Strikeforce announced the first one-night tournament ever in California, which will be a four-man middleweight tournament featuring Joe Riggs and Falaniko Vitale on 11/16 in San Jose at the HP Pavilion. Promoter Scott Coker said it was be streamed live on Yahoo! like the Playboy Mansion show was. Cung Le will be in the non-tourament main event.

Joe Riggs has parted ways with UFC/WEC parent company Zuffa and has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce according to The Fight Network. Even more importantly, Riggs will make his Strikeforce debut on September 29th when he challenges Eugene Jackson for the Strikeforce U.S. Middleweight Title:

Joe Riggs (26-9) has no problem fighting for any promotion, as long as he gets a little respect. The seven-time UFC veteran says he recently asked promoters Zuffa LLC. to release him from a four-fight co-promotional contract with its sister organization World Extreme Cagefighting to pursue more lucrative offers that would entail less fights.

Subsequently, Riggs has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce and will make his debut for the San Jose, Calif. promotion’s Sept. 29 “Strikeforce Hits the Playboy Mansion” event at the famous Los Angeles hotspot. The 24-year-old wrestler will challenge striker Eugene Jackson for his Strikeforce U.S. Middleweight Championship title. Jackson, 41, earned the accolade nine months ago by submitting Hawaii staple Ronald Jhun in just over two minutes, but is remembered more for a string of brutal UFC knockouts in the late 90s.

Riggs was originally rumored to be taking on Jason “Mayhem” Miller in a October WEC bout but that fight never developed after the WEC changed their minds about having the fight take place. Couple that with Riggs’ WEC Middleweight Title being stripped from around his waist and Zuffa stating that a Riggs loss to Dan Chambers in July would result in Riggs being fired and you have your reasons behind Riggs asking to be released.